The present invention relates generally to vacuum blood collection systems and more particularly relates to a vacuum blood collection system which facilitates drawing a blood sample and transporting the blood sample to apparatus for analysis of the blood sample.
Vacuum blood collection systems are well known and have been utilized for a number of years. A basic vacuum blood collection system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,641. The conventional system employs a double ended needle with a hub intermediate its ends which is adapted to be mounted to a holder so that one end of the needle extends forwardly from the holder and the other end of the needle extends into an interior hollow chamber in the holder. The rearward end of the holder is open to permit introduction of a stoppered evacuated tube into alignment with the rearward end of the needle so that the needle can penetrate the stopper and communicate with the interior of the container. When the forward end of the needle is introduced into a vein and the rearward end of the needle is in communication with the evacuated tube, the pressure differential between the venous pressure and the evacuated tube causes blood to flow into the tube for collection of a blood sample. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,965,889; 3,890,955 and 3,817,240 are further examples of basic vacuum blood collection systems.
Various improvements have been made to vacuum blood collection systems, such as by providing valves to shut off flow from the vein while evacuated collection tubes are interchanged for purposes of providing a plurality of samples. Examples of this type of improvement are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,494,352 and 3,469,572.
Further improvements in the basic vacuum blood collection system have utilized various means to indicate correct positioning of the device in the vein. Examples of this type of improvement are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,942,514; 3,886,930 and 3,817,240.
Another improvement is the provision of indexing means on the holder and stopper tube for purposes of indicating the relative position of the stopper and needle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,103 describes this type of improvement. A still further improvement of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,229.
While the above described vacuum blood collection systems and improvements have been highly successful there is a need for providing an improved device and method for transferring the collected blood sample from the vacuum blood collection system into self-contained culture media vials. Such self-contained culture media vials are well known in blood analysis technology and require the penetration of a rupturable seal by a needle for injection of the blood sample into the vial. It would be desirable to provide a vacuum blood collection system which is capable of collecting the blood sample and transferring the blood sample into a self-contained culture media vial or other receptacle without use of an intermediate transfer tube.